The present disclosure relates generally to handheld device technologies and, more particularly, to a mechanism for facilitating correct card insertion, such as memory cards, in electronic devices.
Numerous types of handheld electronic devices are known. Examples of such handheld electronic devices include, for instance, personal data assistants (PDAs), handheld computers, two-way pagers, cellular telephones, smart phones, digital cameras, and the like. While many handheld electronic devices also feature wireless communication capability, other handheld electronic devices are stand-alone devices that are functional without communication with other devices. In general, handheld electronic devices are intended to be portable, and thus are of a relatively compact configuration in which keys and other input structures often perform multiple functions under certain circumstances or may otherwise have multiple aspects or features assigned thereto. With advances in technology, handheld electronic devices are built to have progressively smaller form factors yet have progressively greater numbers of applications and features resident thereon.
Many handheld electronic devices incorporate smart cards therein. A smart card may contain electronic memory, and possibly an embedded integrated circuit (IC). One specific type of smart card is a subscriber identity module (SIM) card, which may be used, for example, in a digital or cellular wireless communication device to encrypt voice and data transmissions. A SIM card may also store data about the device user so that a digital or cellular network can identify and authenticate the user when the network is accessed. Additionally, a SIM card may be used to store the user's personal settings (such as phone numbers, display settings, ring tone settings, etc.).
Typically, handheld electronic devices are designed such that a SIM card is removable by a user. Thus, multiple SIM cards may be swapped into a single handheld electronic device and/or a single SIM card can be swapped between multiple handheld electronic devices. For example, a user may employ a single handheld electronic device for both business and personal communication. Accordingly, a user can assemble (i.e., insert) a first SIM card containing the user's business settings and/or data into the handheld electronic device when conducting a business transaction (e.g., a phone call). After finishing the business transaction, the user can disassemble (i.e., remove) the first SIM card and assemble a second SIM card containing the user's personal settings and/or data into the handheld electronic device before conducting a personal transaction.
Due to the reduced size of handheld electronic devices and SIM cards, however, assembly and disassembly of the SIM cards can be problematic. During assembly, for example, a user may not be able to properly align the SIM card within the handheld electronic device's SIM cardholder frame thus making proper seating of the SIM card difficult if not impossible. During disassembly, a user may not be able to easily grasp the SIM card after it has been unseated from the SIM cardholder frame. Thus, the user may be forced to flip over the handheld electronic device so that the SIM card falls away from the device, which increases the risk that the SIM card will be dropped and damaged.